The Junior Achievement REAL Life event held on Tues., Oct. 11 taught students various life skills. REAL Life, a financial literacy and career-readiness forum, was a day-long program held in high school.

Half the day consisted of budgeting activities focused on helping students gain an idea of the importance that financial decisions will play in their lives as young adults. The other half of the day was focused on career readiness issues, including interview skills and resume writing tips. Two hours were spent doing a budget builder activity and the remaining part of the day was divided among four different activities: The Price is Right, Interview Skills Jenga, My Brand cards, and the Game of Life.

Students were able to learn many life skills as well as financial skills. Junior Denise Paz-Guerrero said, “The experience was definitely enjoyable. It introduced me to saving, budgeting, and credit scores […] I had pleasant chats with the very kind volunteers, and it was interesting to hear about their own individual experiences […] Overall, it was engaging, fun, and informative.”

Senior Julie Brelsford, who volunteered to set up the event, said “I decided to help just because they needed the people, and I was asked to help. I noticed that a lot of juniors had mixed feelings about the event. Some enjoyed the event, however most seemed bored or uninterested. I was not directly involved in any of the rooms or activities, so I didn’t have a real look into how they felt about the event.”